On July 7, 2016, 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson targeted and ambushed a group of police officers in Dallas, Texas, shooting and killing five officers, and injuring nine others. Two civilians were also wounded. Johnson was an Army Reserve Afghan War veteran and was angry over police shootings of black men. The shooting happened at the end of a protest against the police killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, which had occurred in the preceding days.
Following the shooting, Johnson fled inside a building on the campus of El Centro College. Police followed him there, and a standoff ensued. In the early hours of July 8, police killed Johnson with a bomb attached to a remote-controlled bomb disposal robot. It was the first time U.S. law enforcement used a robot to kill a suspect.
The shooting was the deadliest incident for U.S. law enforcement since the September 11, 2001 attacks, surpassing two related March 2009 shootings in Oakland, California, and a November 2009 ambush shooting in Lakewood, Washington, which had each resulted in the death of four police officers and the shooting deaths of both suspects. It was the second-deadliest targeted attack of U.S. law enforcement officers in history; and the largest since the Young Brothers massacre of 1932 resulted in the deaths of six law enforcement officers in Missouri.
Background
A protest was organized in Dallas by the Next Generation Action Network in response to the killings of two men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, by police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota, respectively, days before. The Dallas protest was one of several held across the United States on the night of July 7. Around 800 protesters were involved, and around 100 police officers were assigned to monitor the event. About 20 to 30 open-carry gun rights activists joined the protest march, some wearing gas masks, bulletproof vests, and fatigues, according to Dallas Police Chief David Brown.
Shootings
Most of the events happened in the streets and buildings around El Centro College, which forms a city block composed of multiple buildings. The block is bordered by Main Street on the south where the protest march was taking place; Lamar Street (now Botham Jean Blvd.) to the east from where Johnson initiated the shooting spree; and Elm Street to the north where Johnson eventually entered the college.
Main Street shootings
Around 8:58 p.m. Johnson parked his SUV sideways on Lamar Street, in front of the east entrance to the college, at Building A, and left the vehicle hazard lights blinking. At the time, the street had been cleared out in anticipation of the protest. Taking cover at street level, he began shooting at groups of police and protesters who were gathered on Main Street. Johnson was believed to have talked to three of the officers he shot before he first opened fire.
Three officers were killed in the initial gunfire, while at least three others and a civilian were injured. Eleven officers fired back. During the shooting, officers, unaware where the shots were coming from, scrambled to block intersections and were exposed to gunfire as a result.
Immediately afterwards, Johnson made his way north on Lamar Street, encountering Officer Brent Thompson along the way. A civilian recorded video of the encounter from his hotel balcony on Lamar Street. The video showed Johnson, clad in tactical clothing and armed with a rifle, loading his rifle and firing indiscriminately to draw officers near his position. When Thompson approached a corner, Johnson engaged him in a gunfight, forcing Thompson to take cover behind a concrete pillar. Johnson fired towards one side of the pillar, then ran over to the other side of the pillar to flank Thompson and shot him multiple times from behind, killing him.